Uncle Sam in Your Attic

Liberal screamed about government being "In our bedrooms" during the Reagan years.  Well, now we have Obama and Biden in our attics 

"Insulation is sexy," said the president.  Oh, yeah?  Obama has never gotten within 10 feet of the stuff, let alone installed any of it in a sweaty, cramped attic.  He has no idea what it's like to be itching your ass off for weeks on end afterwards...

Democrats:  Lobotomizing Americans one Government Program at a Time

Anyway, according to VP Biden, Americans are just too stupid or too broke to embark on home improvement.  Here are the barriers to weatherization he cites in his report, "Recovery Through Retrofit" [PDF].:

Consumers do not have access to straightforward and reliable information on home energy retrofits

Has he heard of the Internet?  A previous Vice President invented it.  You can look up products and research their prices and energy efficiency ratings.

Homeowners face high upfront costs and many are concerned that they will be prevented from recouping the value of their investment if they choose to sell their home. The upfront costs of home retrofit projects are often beyond the average homeowner’s budget.

No duh...  This is a calculus every homeowner must make.  If you're selling your house, you don't blow money on upgrades that provide no return.

Home Ownership is not for the Stupid
Home improvements are not cheap, so you save up for those big projects, or do it a little at a time.  I spent one year replacing all the windows at the old Silverfiddle homestead.  Every payday I bought one window and installed it because we couldn't afford to do it all at once.

Are there really that many homeowners so stupid they need Obama and Biden to take them by the hand?  If so, they have no business owning a home.

Biden Slams Palin for "Drill Baby Drill"

"Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy is 'Drill, baby, drill,' " Biden said, according to ABC News, of his onetime vice presidential competitor. "It's a lot more complicated, Sarah."

Wow, this guy is really sharp!  She only said that, what, a year and a half ago?

Let's hope the Veep's reaction time is a little faster when negotiating with other nations...

RCP Video - Biden
WaPo - Biden's Belated Comeback

Spend Money to Save Money, and other DC Fantasies

Who do you believe? The non-partisan CBO director, or VP Biden?

Taking a page from the Bush Administration, VP Biden says we gotta spend money to keep from going broke. Kinda' like President Bush destroying capitalism to save it, I guess...

Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf:

Under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path, because federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run.

Although great uncertainty surrounds long-term fiscal projections, rising costs for health care and the aging of the population will cause federal spending to increase rapidly under any plausible scenario for current law. Unless revenues increase just as rapidly, the rise in spending will produce growing budget deficits.

Large budget deficits would reduce national saving, leading to more borrowing from abroad and less domestic investment, which in turn would depress economic growth in the United States. Over time, accumulating debt would cause substantial harm to the economy.

Vice President Joe Biden:

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.” (Listen to Audio)

When did Conan O'Brien become the White House script writer?

CBO Director's Blog
CNS News - VP Biden
WaPo -CBO Devastating

...And in the News

Barack Obama, President and CEO of The Chrysler Corporation, announced that company's bankruptcy yesterday. With Mr. Obama's involvement, it's not your normal business failure. Let's call it an O'Bankruptcy... Read more here...

And in other news, while government underlings were telling us not to panic, Vice President Joe Biden was keepin' it real:

In an interview on NBC's Today Show early Thursday Mr. Biden said he'd advise family members to avoid airplanes, subways and other "confined" places to avoid catching the H1N1, or swine flu.

White House officials are scrambling to clarify the Vice President's comments...

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1026428.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124112820335474671.html

Radical Honesty

Insincerity is the lubricant of social intercourse

We've all heard about the latest VP F-Bomb. Cheney did it a few year ago on the senate floor when he told Senator Leahy what he could do with himself. Last week Palooka Joe used the f-word to tell his friends to lighten up and drop all that formal "Mr. Vice President" crap. Say what you want about VP Biden, but you can't call him insincere. He's radically honest.

Wikihow explains radical honesty and how to practice it in your everyday life. Included are little anecdotes from real people who have tried it. It can be liberating, but it can also screw stuff up.

I think if we all did this, society as we know it would break down, so I'm agin' it. Little white lies are the Elmer's Glue that holds friendships and families together.

Think I'm exaggerating? Consider this question: "Honey, does this make my butt look fat?"

I would, however, love to see radical honesty practiced by our government. They could start by using the same accounting rules they foist upon private enterprise.

Here are the WikiHow steps to recovery for our mendacious politicians and bureaucrats:

1. Observe yourself lying. This is easy: C-SPAN, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC... There is a virtual liars library at our fingertips. Politicians have left an odoriferous trail of electronic BS a thousand miles long.

2. Think deeply about whether you're really doing anyone a favor by lying. This step won't work. The average politician obviously doesn't think too deeply. If they were to think, they would realize yes, they are doing themselves a favor by lying. It gets them reelected.

3. Confess. This won't work either. A politician never confesses until he's caught like a trapped rat with no way out.

4. Uncensor yourself. This only works for people who are not self-delusional and thus have not fallen for their own BS. Also, today's "gotcha" culture guarantees that no politician this side of VP Joe Biden will throw away the scripts and talking points.

5. Inject the honesty with humor. Ever heard of a funny politician, other than VP Biden? Won't work.

6. Take off the edge. Avoid breaking hearts, crushing dreams, or hurting feelings. Politicians are great at this. How else do you explain their ability to jack stuff up and then get reelected promising to fix it?

7. Brace yourself for return fire. ...if you're a conservative. The press will be firing every cannon. If you're a liberal, Huff and Puff Po and the Daily 'Caus will fire at you for not being liberal enough. If you're VP Biden, nobody will fire at you. Victor Davis Hansen calls it Biden's Law: "If one makes enough gaffes, they soon reach a point that none of them matter."

8. Know where to draw the line. This won't work either. Politicians don't know how to draw lines, unless it's to circumscribe our rights. They draw no lines when it comes to budgets, and they pile lie upon fantasies at a pace that would make Pinocchio blush.

So the only politician actively practicing this now is the Vice President. Take that for what it's worth...

http://www.wikihow.com/Practice-Radical-Honesty
http://warskill.blogspot.com/2008/09/thats-just-joe.html

Patriotism, Democrat Style

According to Yahoo News Joe Biden made the following comment:

"We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people," Biden said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Noting that wealthier Americans would indeed pay more, Biden said: "It's time to be patriotic ... time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."

This stupid comment provides a rare moment of clarity.

75% of those making over $250,000 per year are actually business owners filing their taxes as an individual. They've already "jumped in" and are "part of the deal." The "deal" they've jumped into is providing jobs for millions of fellow Americans. That's not patriotic? How about if they fired everybody and then sent the payroll money to the feral government, would that make them more patriotic? According to Palooka Joe it would.

It is socialistic (and stupid) to believe that taking money away from job creators and giving it to the feral government will "get America out of the rut." This is what is putting our nation in the rut.

Do these people even think before they speak? It's so easy to expose their ignorance even a redneck with a computer can do it...

That's Just Joe

Joe Biden is living up to his reputation as a Gaff-a-minute politician. They're stacking up so high, the press can no longer ignore it. IHT has a short article that sums up his greatest hits of the past few weeks.

For example:

In Fort Myers, Florida, last week, he referred to the "Biden administration," before quickly correcting himself to say the "Obama-Biden administration."

"Believe me, that wasn't a Freudian slip," he said, laughing and crossing himself. "Oh lordy day, I tell ya."

Here's my favorite:

Earlier in the week, in Columbia, Missouri, Biden urged a paraplegic state official to stand up to be recognized.

"Chuck, stand up, let the people see you," Biden shouted to State Senator Chuck Graham, before realizing, to his horror, that Graham uses a wheelchair. "Oh, God love ya," Biden said. "What am I talking about?"

Do his gaffes matter? No. Victor Davis Hanson observes:

Almost any thought that comes into his head goes out his mouth, and the strange thing is that no one seems to mind (imagine if Sarah Palin had said Obama was good looking, or a step backward, or that Romney would have been a better pick than herself)...

Hanson even coins a new term to explain this phenomenon:

Biden's Law: If one makes enough gaffes, they soon reach a point that none of them matter.

Hanson concludes:

I have heard a lot of conservatives rattle off all the reasons why Biden is duplicitous, a bully, and often mean-spirited—before ending up with an inexplicable sigh, "But I sort of like Joe Biden." Even weirder—I sort of do too, but don't know quite why either.

Does Palin Think Romney More Qualified?

"Make no mistake about this," Palin said. "Mitt Romney is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let’s get that straight. And quite frankly, he might have been a better pick than me."

Actually, Joe Biden made the above statement about Hillary Clinton on the 10th of September. But imagine if Sarah Palin had said it. The press frenzy would burst all bounds of sanity, the left would be in righteous uproar and it all would be raining down upon our heads night and day, thundering in our ears, until the McCain campaign collapsed and Ms. Palin withdrew in disgrace.

Here's the real quote from Senator Biden:

"Make no mistake about this," Biden responded. "Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let’s get that straight. She’s a truly close personal friend, she is qualified to be president of the United States of America, she’s easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America, and quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. But she’s first rate, I mean that sincerely, she’s first rate, so let’s get that straight."

And the Democrat-supporting press let's it slide... The press's feigned partiality is an insult to all Americans and another shameful smudge on the 4th estate.

Adult Supervision

Every presidential ticket needs at least one credible candidate, and the Democrats have finally accomplished that. Joe Biden is a man of substance and stature. Love him or hate him, he's always got an opinion and it is usually well-informed, if not sometimes indiscreet. He's that rare politician who can be bitingly funny, warm, distinguished, and average Joe all at once.

I have a grudging admiration for Biden. I don't agree with him often, but his positions are always well thought out and well-reasoned. I like him because unlike most oily politicians, he comes off real and sincere. There's no guile, just Joe, telling it like it is. Here's a Biden quote from the Davos forum last year:

"You Europeans use George Bush's excesses as an excuse for your own lack of commitment. You've been reluctant to do anything apart from criticize America---get over it."
-- Reported on a blog, on the subject of the 2004 Davos conference in Switzerland

Biden's ACU rating (American Conservative Union benchmark--Higher the percentage, more conservative) is around 13%. Senator Obama's is around 7%, so this is a very liberal ticket, which should make the Democratic rank and file quite happy.

But most importantly, if Mr. Obama is elected, at least we'll have some adult supervision when the phone rings at 3 am.